


On A Wing & A Prayer

by chibi_zoe



Category: Saiyuki, Saiyuki Gaiden
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-01
Updated: 2013-08-01
Packaged: 2017-12-22 02:24:58
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,131
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/907770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chibi_zoe/pseuds/chibi_zoe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>All living things age, some more gracefully than others.  Goujun is growing up and both Tenpou and Kenren are watching with bated breath, all too willing to lend a hand.  Warnings: Breathplay, reptilian genitalia</p>
            </blockquote>





	On A Wing & A Prayer

Title: On a Wing and a Prayer  
Author: chibi-zoe  
Rating: NC-17  
Pairing(s): Goujun x Tenpou x Kenren  
Disclaimer: Saiyuki Gaiden and its characters are the property of Kazuya Minekura, I’m just having a little fun with them.  
Summary: All living things age, some more gracefully than others  
Warnings: Breathplay, reptilian genitalia  
Author’s notes: I got a little bit carried away here and I’m not sure that I really hit your requested kinks on the head, I hope that you enjoy it anyway.

Goujun shifted uncomfortably in his chair for the fifth time in as many minutes. His back was one giant itch from his neck to his ass, and he couldn’t seem to scratch it satisfactorily. Groaning, he pushed his paperwork aside, he was far too uncomfortable to concentrate on it properly, and he really didn’t need some minor bureaucrat chasing him down over an administrative error right now. 

Closing his eyes, he leaned back, and sighed impatiently as the fabric of his uniform rasped uncomfortably against his irritated scales. If he’d known that this was going to be so incredibly unpleasant, he’d have made other arrangements sooner, when he was still his normal calm and composed self.

“Commander?” Of course, he would be interrupted right when he was writhing in a rather undignified manner against the back of his chair, trying to scratch the omnipresent itch. Opening his eyes, he directed a spiteful glare at the intruder.

“Yes Marshall?” The look of interested curiosity on Tenpou’s face did not bode well for Goujun’s continued peace of mind, especially in light of the fact that the Marshall was bound to become even more inquisitive by the time their scheduled meeting was over.

“You wanted to see me sir?” When the Marshall stepped fully into the room, Goujun could see, and smell, that the other man was in dire need of a bath. It was clear that he’d been engrossed in something strenuous, lost track of time, and then raced over without taking the time to freshen up. Goujun sighed in exasperation; sometimes his men were just far too predictable.

“Indeed Marshall, and as soon as General Kenren decides to put in an appearance, we’ll get started.” The blank look on Tenpou’s face was more exasperating than usual somehow, and Goujun rubbed his temples in a rare outward display of frustration. 

“You did advise the General that his presence was required did you not Marshall Tenpou?” Light glinted off his subordinates’ glasses, hiding his eyes, and a slight smirk tugged at the corners of his mouth. Normally, this would have made Goujun curious as to what the man was trying to hide, but this evening, it grated on his nerves, and he frowned sternly.

“Yo.” That slow sensual drawl could only belong to one man, and sure enough, a familiar if rather aggravating face popped into view over Tenpou’s shoulder. The heavy, musky, scent of sex clung to Kenren like a second skin as he draped an arm over his adjutant’s shoulder, and Goujun felt an unaccustomed heaviness settle in his gut. He did his best to ignore it.

“Take a seat then gentlemen, and let’s get this over with.” There was a surprised light in Kenren’s eyes at his abrupt tone, and Goujun had to wonder just what it was that his rambunctious subordinate had thought that they were going to be doing here tonight. 

On further consideration, he decided that he really didn’t want to know, General Kenren was far too liberal with his thoughts and desires, and Goujun would much rather live in ignorance.

“I will be taking an extended leave of absence as of next week,” Goujun began slowly, “and everything needs to run smoothly whilst I’m away.” He didn’t really want to take time off, especially not right now with the political climate the way it was, but some things simply could not be put off, and as it was, he’d already delayed far longer than he should have.

As he started to go over the particulars and point out the various piles of paperwork, emphasising the fact that his secretary was extremely competent and was to be relied upon as much as was feasible, he kept an eye on his two subordinates’ reactions. They were as interesting as they were confusing.

Kenren looked oddly disappointed, although for what reason Goujun couldn’t fathom, and Tenpou appeared to be decidedly disgruntled, which again was incomprehensible to the Dragon King. Surely his subordinates should be ecstatic at this golden opportunity to prove their worth to the Jade Emperor and his bureaucracy, to rise in power and influence.

It also wasn’t a fear or dislike of responsibility that was affecting them either, as they had both been ambitious enough to gain their current positions, and if even if Tenpou did claim that he didn’t like to stand out, he liked having someone outside of his sphere of influence rise in power even less. All in all it was a very curious situation that Goujun was currently lacking the necessary patience to explore properly.

“That should be everything for now. “ He announced as he realised that his concentration was wandering yet again, “Tomorrow I shall expect to see the pair of you here before morning drills.” Rising to his feet, he had to grit his teeth at the way that the weight of his braid chafed the cloth of his uniform against his inflamed scales. 

“Dismissed.” He growled out at his men as he reached back with a clawed hand, and drew the heavy plait of hair over his shoulder, smoothing his palm down its length as he moved towards the door. He needed to get out of his uniform sooner rather than later, before his sheer uncomfortableness caused him to simply tear the cloth from his body.

**--**--**--**

Kenren shivered as Commander Goujun’s hand ran its way sensuously down his pale braid. He heard Tenpou suck in a quiet breath beside him, and grinned roguishly at his fellow soldier. He might have a stiff personality and a steadfast obsession with rules and regulations, but the Dragon King of the Western Seas was still undeniably an incredibly attractive creature, especially when he was clearly distracted about something and not concentrating properly. 

“After you.” He bowed elaborately as he waved Tenpou through the door that Goujun was helpfully holding open in a blatant request for them to move their asses pronto. He was tempted to dally, just to see what the Dragon King would do, but the way that the light glinted off extended canines as the Commander yawned was enough to suggest that it would be a very bad idea to piss Goujun off right now. 

Stepping through the door after his adjutant, Kenren was surprised to find that their Commander was so close behind him that he almost trod on Kenren’s heels. It was seriously out of character for the normally decorous dragon, whose actions where always restrained and correct even when he was clearly injured or annoyed. Both he and Tenpou stopped to watch as Goujun gave them a barely polite nod and then hurried off in the direction of his quarters, his cloak flaring behind him and his braid still uncharacteristically looped over his shoulder.

“I wonder what’s got his panties in a twist.” He stated casually as he fished inside his uniform for his cigarettes and lighter. That definitely rated as the strangest encounter that he’d ever had with the Dragon King, and that was saying something considering some of the things that he’d been reprimanded for. He smiled as several of the more interesting activities flittered through his mind.

Tenpou however didn’t answer, and when he looked across the narrow space at the other man, Kenren saw him still staring down the corridor in the direction that Goujun had rushed off in. His pretty face was fixed into a look of intense concentration, and he was absently tapping his fingers against his thigh. Kenren didn’t think that the Marshall had ever looked as totally irresistible as he did right at that moment and he couldn’t help himself as he lit up. 

Taking a deep drag of his cigarette, he held the smoke in his lungs and leaned forwards to steal Tenpou’s lips, sealing them together and exhaling slowly into the other man’s mouth until stars danced behind his eyelids.

“...” The wordless moan that preceded Tenpou’s enthusiastic response sent tiny shivers shooting along Kenren’s spine and he pressed his sometime superior, sometime subordinate, officer against the corridor wall. Tenpou’s body was all hard muscle and sharp bone, and just as eager as his own as they ground against each other.

Sliding his right hand beneath the Marshall’s lab coat, and down the back of his pants, Kenren pressed his left into the wall beside Tenpou’s head as the other man looped both muscular arms around his waist, before sending one sliding up the planes of his back, and then along his extended arm.

Eager fingers stole the cigarette from his lax grasp, and he could feel the way that the Marshall’s chest expanded with the depth of his breath as their lips parted to allow Tenpou to turn his head to the side and inhale deeply. Kenren watched the cherry glow, as the other man’s eyes slid shut in pleasure, clearly elated as the chemicals flooded into his bloodstream. 

Powerless against his raging libido, Kenren reached out with his thumb and forefinger to pluck the tobacco stick from between the other man’s lips, using his remaining fingertips to turn Tenpou’s head so that he could seal their mouths together again. He breathed in everything that Tenpou had to give, and then twined their tongues together in a desperate plea for more.

They writhed desperately together, exchanging smoky lungfuls of nicotine-laced air, and driving each other closer and closer to the edge with skilful touches and urgent caresses. Until the shushing sound of slippered feet rushing over polished stone penetrated their lustful haze, driving them reluctantly apart. 

Using the motions of lighting another cigarette to hide his flushed face and dishevelled appearance, Kenren looked down the hall to see the Commander’s body servant, a rather short creamy-coloured dragon with no horns, almost running down the hall in the direction of Goujun’s quarters. He had a scroll in one hand and what looked distinctly like a large, somewhat heavy bucket in the other.

Kenren’s eyes met Tenpou’s for a long wordless moment, before they turned as one and started down the hall after the body servant, towards their Commanders’ quarters. 

**--**--**--**

As he huddled in the bushes outside of Commander Goujun’s bathroom with Kenren, Tenpou kept an ear peeled for the sound of footsteps approaching. The last thing that he needed right now was to be caught peeping at the Dragon King of the Western Seas, what with all the rumours about himself and General Kenren still doing the rounds. Further accusation of impropriety would definitely result in disciplinary action.

Inside, it was clear that Goujun and his servant were speaking together about something, probably whatever it was that was causing their Commander to be so on edge. Unfortunately, what this might be was still a mystery, as the pair was using a strange combination of kami speech and dragonish growls. Tenpou was fascinated. He knew, of course, that the dragons had their own language, but he’d never, in all the time that he’d know the Dragon King, heard the other speak it.

Turning his head slightly, Tenpou took in Kenren’s eager posture as he crouched in the garden and attempted to peer through the screened doorway. It was not often that he got a chance to see the General look so very much alive. The lackadaisical attitude that he showed to the world was only rarely breached, and normally only when they risked their lives down below.

“Can you see anything?” He whispered, sotto voce, still trying to decipher by sound alone what exactly was happening on the other side of the wall.

“Mmmhmm,” Came Kenren’s replying murmur, “you’ve got to check this out Tenpou, it’s amazing.” Shuffling along so that he could peer over the General’s shoulder in the direction indicated, Tenpou drew in an astonished breath, inadvertently getting a lungful of Kenren’s enticing muskiness, which only magnified his own feelings about the sight before them.

Goujun and his body servant were both stark naked, and Tenpou could see quite clearly why it was that the Commander never, ever, bathed with his subordinates, not matter what the situation. It was far more obvious, in their current state of undress, that whilst their forms might resemble those of kami superficially, they were very clearly not kami. 

Their bodies were scaled all over, which Tenpou had always presumed to be the case, but the scales differed quite dramatically in size from the ones on their hands and faces, which he hadn’t expected. Their torsos were also completely smooth, from shoulders to knees, with no visible primary or secondary sexual characteristics. Tenpou had definitely not anticipated that, and he wondered curiously how one could tell a female dragon from a male dragon whilst they were wearing their kami-style forms. 

Then their Commander turned around, and suddenly Tenpou could completely understand Goujun’s recent prickliness. 

“Oh shit!” Kenren breathed out as he blinked in shock, “No wonder his prissiness has been pms-ing so badly lately.” Tenpou had to agree with the sentiment. The scales running down either side of Goujun’s rather prominent spine were decidedly dull in colour, bulging outwards, and clearly starting to crack and split apart. Tenpou wondered suddenly if their Commander was moulting, and if he was, then how often it happened. 

He would have to go digging through the archives for books on dragon culture and life cycles, there was bound to be something in there somewhere about what was happening to their Commander. But it would have to wait until after the evenings’ little show was all over, and, knowing Kenren, after the requisite stress relief session that would surely follow.

Resting his chin on Kenren’s shoulder, Tenpou shuffled closer to his General, slipping an arm around his waist for balance, as they watched Goujun’s body servant first brush out their Commanders’ long pale locks, and then quickly bind the gleaming mass up onto his head, securing it with a pair of carved ivory chopsticks. The style looked extremely odd, especially with the Dragon King’s rather prominent pointed ears and horns, and Tenpou could feel Kenren’s body shake as he held in a snigger.

**--**--**--**

Goujun breathed out a sigh of relief when his hair was finally pinned atop his head, out of the way of his aching back. It was disappointing that his older brother was currently away from Heaven with the Eastern Army doing border patrols, as he would have very much liked to talk to someone who knew what he was going through, someone who might know of ways to ease the unbelievable itch.

He stood still as his servant carefully sponged away the day’s dirt and grime, the soft touches soothing and yet frustrating at the same time. Goujun wanted nothing more right now than to throw himself onto his back in the raked gravel in the garden and writhe until the itch went away – along with his flaking scales, and his dignity. 

He had been so incredibly wrong when he had thought that this would be nothing worse than a more intense version of the moulting he went through every decade. He sent up a silent apology to all of the seniors to whom he had directed disrespectful thoughts when they had gone through the same metamorphosis. They had been right, he had not understood what it was that they were going through.

“Enough.” He finally commanded, and his servant hurriedly dropped the soapy sponge and reached for the small pail of warm rinse water. Clean and soap free, Goujun then waded into the large bathing pool that took up most of the room. He motioned for the servant to join him, and shook his head in mock disappointment when the young dragon grinned happily up at him. 

Serving the Dragon King of the Western Seas in his Heavenly position of Commander of the Western Armies, was no easy task, it required tact and understanding as well as a thorough knowledge of what the kami considered a servant to be. It was still, however, a highly coveted position among the younger scions of the major dragon houses as a stepping stone to greater responsibility. 

To this end, Goujun changed his servant every couple of decades, so that more youngsters had the opportunity to experience living with the kami, as distasteful as it could be at times. His current aide was very young, even by dragon standards, young enough that he didn’t even have horns yet, and whilst he was generally proficient at his tasks, he was still somewhat lacking in decorum. 

Letting himself drift in the comforting embrace of the warm, artificially salted water, Goujun tuned out the sound of the young dragon playing quietly at the other end of the pool, and allowed his thoughts to meander as they would. 

He was more than a little bit worried about his imminent visit home, particularly in view of his looming additional responsibilities. It would be expected of him to start a family, now that he was finally capable of performing his marital duty properly, and to take a much more active role in his kingdom’s rituals and ceremonies. Although where exactly he was supposed to find the time for all this was unclear. 

Not to mention the monumentally embarrassing fact that he would actually have to ask for instruction on how to be intimate with his wife, as he had no more than a rather vague notion of what was supposed to happen. It was a side-effect of having been shipped off to serve Heaven as a juvenile, stranded with the kami, without the guidance of his elders, and, most notably, without exposure to the complex customs that regulated interactions between adult dragons. His only consolation, small though it might be, was that his brothers were in the exact same boat.

Feeling his eyelids grow heavy, Goujun flipped over and slowly made his way to the edge of the pool. His servant was already out and was arranging the graded series of cloths that would first dry him off and then polish his scales. It was then, as a gentle breeze drifted in through the partially open door to the garden, that Goujun caught the unmistakable odour of unwashed kami and pheromones. 

He sighed in exasperation; he should have known that his abrupt news and unusual behaviour would rouse the curiosity of his subordinates – he’d never met anyone else quite as inquisitive as his Marshall, much to his relief. He deliberated, as the sensitive scales on his belly were gently rubbed with almond oil, as to what he should do. 

The easiest course of action obviously was to simply pretend that he hadn’t noticed them, to allow them to think that they had spied on the Dragon King of the Western Seas in his bath and gotten away with it. Alternatively, he could demand that they show themselves immediately and insist that they explain themselves, and their actions. Or, of course, he could leave them be for now and confront them in the morning, before he had them lead the regular morning drills.

His pride would not allow him to go with the first option, and, whilst the third option had its charms, there would be far too much room for Tenpou to manoeuvre – and there were few things that his Marshall enjoyed more than pulling the wool over someone’s eyes. That only left one available option; immediate confrontation. Goujun sighed; he really didn’t need this right now.

**--**--**--**

“General Kenren, Marshall Tenpou,” Kenren gulped, their Commander sounded seriously pissed off, “you can stop hiding in the bushes, I know that you’re out there.” There was something in Goujun’s tone that indicated that they should present themselves before him immediately, bow down, and apologise for having invaded his privacy.

“Lovely evening isn’t it?” Behind him, Tenpou had skilfully disentangled himself and risen to his feet with a typically understated question. Kenren wondered how the man could sound so calm, his own breath was rasping in his throat and his heart was pounding madly – partly from Tenpou’s interrupted ministrations, and partly from being caught in the act.

“It was.” Came the disgruntled response, and Kenren had to agree. The view had been so much nicer, in a distinctly non-kami way, before Goujun’s servant had produced a ridiculously modest white night robe that loosely, but opaquely, covered their Commander from his neck to his ankles and down to his wrists as well. 

“General Kenren? Won’t you join us?” Kenren would have much rather remained hidden by the concealing bush.

Tenpou had done a rather good job of dishevelling him, and he was reasonably sure that he would be unable to put himself back in order without completely exposing himself. Not that he was shy or self-conscious in any way, but despite his constant innuendo laden assertions, he really preferred to only show so much of himself to those who were actually interested – and he highly doubted that their straight-laced Dragon King was one such.

“I’d really rather not, Commander.” Behind him, he could hear Tenpou laugh lightly at his predicament. Bastard was probably getting a thrill out of this. 

“General Kenren, you will show yourself immediately.” Goujun’s tone brooked no room for argument, and Kenren reluctantly rose to his feet, drawing his leather coat about him as he did so to try and disguise his debauched and aroused appearance. 

If his pants had still covered him, and not been mostly bunched around his upper thighs, he would’ve casually saluted and tossed out a lewd invitation. But the fact that he was still hard and dripping, so many minutes after being sprung, kept his mouth shut and his eyes lowered in acute embarrassment. 

Goujun let out an odd huffing noise, and Kenren glanced up to see a very toothy grin on their Commander’s scaled face, and a small cloud of smoke dispersing over his head. At his side he heard Tenpou chuckle, and chanced a glance at the man. The Marshall looked as nonchalant as ever and not at all like he’d been caught crouching in his commanding officer’s garden, watching the man bathe, whilst feeling up his more than willing subordinate officer.

“You surprise me General.” Kenren’s eyes snapped back to meet Goujun’s amused gaze as the Dragon King moved to stand in the doorway, his feet incongruously encased in white house slippers with fluffy pink bunnies embroidered on them. 

“I never thought I’d see the day when you, of all people, would actually be embarrassed about something.” Kenren’s back stiffened, and he very nearly let go of his uniform coat, but checked himself at the last moment and resolutely turned his back to tuck himself back in and button himself back up. Their Commander’s huffing laugh echoed around the small courtyard garden at his actions.

“Really Kenren...” Tenpou began, but trailed off as their Commander stepped out onto the polished wooden walkway. With the light now behind him, the Dragon King’s nightrobe was no longer as opaque as it had been, and his silhouette was easily visible, even as his face was cast into shadow, making his expressions that much harder to read.

“It’s late, I’m tired, and really not in the mood to deal with exactly why it is that my Marshall and my General are indulging in intimate relations in the bushes outside of my bathroom.” Kenren swallowed as Goujun motioned to his servant to extinguish the lights and close the door.

“We will revisit this matter tomorrow, after you have conducted the morning drills.” Damn, Kenren had forgotten about that in all the excitement.

“Dismissed gentlemen.” With that, Goujun turned and headed towards what were clearly his sleeping quarters, his servant trailing soundlessly behind him. Beside him, he could feel Tenpou slouch in relief, and then came the inimitable sound of a consolatory cigarette being lit up. 

**--**--**--**

They had gotten off rather lightly, all things considered, but Tenpou’s curiosity was still piqued by the strange protuberances under the scales on Goujun’s back. He knew that there had to be some information somewhere on what it meant, but where to start?

He was still contemplating which sections of the archives to raid when they arrived back at his own quarters. Would the information he was chasing be under zoology, herpetology, history (of Heaven’s enemies), or did the Dragon Kings have their own section? He couldn’t remember ever having run across anything about the dragons other than the standard subjugation accounts, and a rather odd tome detailing the differences in poetical form. 

“Tenpou,” he flinched as he was jerked from his musings, and looked up at Kenren’s amused face, “whatever it is that you’re thinking about, it will have to wait until tomorrow. We have to meet the Commander before morning drills, so no staying up all night reading.” Tenpou blinked. Morning drills? Oh yes, he did vaguely recall Commander Goujun saying something along those lines. They didn’t require any thought to complete though; he’d been doing them on autopilot for decades. 

Stepping into his room, he was about to bid the General ‘good night’ when Kenren suddenly stepped inside and closed the door after himself, locking it with a soft snicking sound that set Tenpou’s heart racing as he suddenly recalled the many previous occasions when the other man had performed that exact same set of actions. 

“On second thoughts, I think I’d better stay with you to make sure that you don’t stay up all night and read yourself into exhaustion.” Tenpou frowned a little at Kenren’s words. He hadn’t been going to stay up all night, just for a few more hours whilst he looked through his history books for a clue as to what was happening to their Commander. 

The gentle touch of Kenren’s hand to his face was warm and inviting, and Tenpou leaned into the caress. In public the General might often be loud and brash, but in private, he was sensual and considerate. It was in these intimate moments that Tenpou could see why Kenren had such a reputation as a superlative lover – and he was getting better and better the more that they practiced together.

He allowed the other man to guide him into his bedroom and disrobe him, unconsciously it seemed echoing the motions of Goujun’s servant that they had witnessed earlier. Content to play the part of the King, Tenpou reclined upon the bed as Kenren slowly stripped off, deliberately teasing his audience of one. Tenpou could feel his heart rate speeding up as he watched, and even though a part of him wanted to just ignore Kenren and start hunting down that elusive bit of knowledge, the majority voted to indulge the General and begin researching afterwards. 

“You’re thinking too much Marshall. I mustn’t be doing a good enough job.” With that, the General dropped to his knees between Tenpou’s thighs and slid calloused hands around his hips to firmly grasp hold of his buttocks.

Tenpou groaned at the double assault, as Kenren wrapped talented lips around his aching erection and began to suck. Tangling the fingers of one hand in his General’s short locks, he slid the other up his own chest to first fondle his nipples, and then higher to firmly massage the flesh at the base of his throat, interrupting his own breathing and sending his heart rate soaring. 

“Ahh, Kenren...” he gasped breathlessly as his General’s smart mouth was put to best use. He could smell the muskiness that indicated that Kenren was more than a little bit excited, and hear the lewd slurping sounds that echoed oddly through the cramped room. When large hands squeezed the cheeks of his ass with enough force to bruise, he lost his battle with control. 

His first blast shot straight down Kenren’s throat, but the General then pulled back sharply so that the next shot hit him square in the face. Tenpou stared down enraptured at the sight of General Kenren with semen dripping down his face and felt his groin convulse in pure lust as his body strained to eject as much fluid as it possibly could. 

Collapsing back onto the bed, spent, he shivered as Kenren’s hands ran lightly along his thighs before the other man rose gracefully to his feet and used a leg of Tenpou’s worn trousers to wipe his face clean – and incidentally ensured that a clean pair would have to be procured before the morning meeting with the Commander. Tenpou hoped that he had a clean pair somewhere.

The distinctive sound of the lubricant tube being popped open drew Tenpou’s attention and he watched as Kenren applied a generous amount to his own erection. His General’s large hand stroked languidly along the turgid length, and his hips thrust slowly in counterpoint, and Tenpou licked his lips at the delicious sight. 

“Like what you see Marshall?” Kenren grinned at him, and then tossed him the tube. Tenpou dragged himself along the bed before popping the cap and squirting a generous amount onto his fingers. Groaning as he sat up slightly, he slathered the lube between his upper thighs until the whole area was slippery, and then he slumped back against the pillows and crossed his ankles to help keep his legs together. 

The bed dipped as Kenren crawled up over him, and Tenpou tipped his head up for a kiss. His glasses bumped against the other mans’ nose, and were summarily removed before the General settled his weight onto Tenpou’s willing body. Kenren kissed him again and then pushed his slippery erection between Tenpou’s equally slippery thighs and started to thrust.

Squeezing his thighs together, Tenpou slid his hands over Kenren’s shoulders, down the planes of his back onto his muscular ass and moaned wantonly like he was having the time of his life. Above him, the General’s breath hitched, and Tenpou panted huskily like he was on the verge of orgasm. It did the trick, as it always did, and Kenren gasped ecstatically as wet warmth flooded between Tenpou’s legs.

“Here.” Kenren mumbled to him as he rolled to one side, and Tenpou opened eyes that he hadn’t realised that he’d shut to see his soiled pants balled up in his lovers’ hand. Taking them with a grunt, he swiped them between his legs to get the worst of the mess, and then dropped them over the edge of the bed and rolled over to rest his head on Kenren’s chest.

“Sweet dreams.” He smiled sleepily as his General flicked off the light and drew the sheets up over them. He would just rest here for a few minutes until Kenren fell asleep, then he would get up and start researching. Honestly he would. 

**--**--**--**

Goujun was right on the verge of sending someone to hunt up his recalcitrant officers when they suddenly burst through his door, without knocking, and saluted sharply as one. Both were clean, smelling of the same rose-scented soap he noted with some amusement, and dressed in freshly laundered clothes. Tenpou even had his regulation uniform pants and boots on, even if he’d still teamed it with a collared shirt and tie, with his usual lab coat thrown over the top. Both men were breathing heavily, and there was a high flush of colour along Kenren’s cheeks.

“I’m impressed General,” Goujun began, “not only is the Marshall freshly washed, but he is almost in uniform, and it actually appears as if he’s well rested.” In fact, it appeared as if both men had gotten a far better nights’ sleep than Goujun himself had. His eyes were impossibly gritty and his head felt as if it was stuffed with cotton wool, not to mention the fact that his back still itched like crazy, despite the therapeutic measures that he’d taken to try and ease it.

“Thank you Sir.” There was a definite grin in General Kenren’s tone, and the affronted expression on Marshall Tenpou’s face was absolutely priceless. 

All in all, it was a fine way to repay their lateness, for he knew without a shadow of a doubt that it was his Marshall who was responsible for his officers’ tardiness, his General may have enjoyed flirting with insubordination, but he did take his military duties very seriously. Not that Tenpou didn’t, but unless the Marshall himself deemed the duty in question to be particularly important, then his punctuality often left much to be desired.

“Well then, let’s be off, morning drills have already started.” Goujun could hear the repetitive chants echoing from the parade ground, and gestured towards the door in unspoken command. They had a lot to get through in a limited amount of time, and he was determined that they would cover everything, no matter how hard he to push to make it happen.

As he strode through the doorway and out into the hall, he heard an exclamation of surprise, and knew that it was in regards to the elaborate arrangement his braid had been pinned up into to keep its heavy weight away from his painfully itchy back, which was currently slathered in a greasy lanolin-based lotion and covered by a thick flannel vest in a vain attempt to ease the irritation. 

“General Kenren, I expect you to be in attendance at drill every morning for the duration of my absence.” His rather lame attempt to steer the conversation away from any curious questions about his new hair-style was met with a snort from his Marshall, and was completely ignored by his General.

“Sir,” Kenren began, “is it an auspicious occasion today?” Goujun blinked, auspicious occasion? He glanced sideways at his General, and saw that his subordinates’ eyes were tracing the patterns of his intricate hair arrangement.

“You might say that General.” It was not entirely incorrect after all, particularly in view of Kenren’s own personal tastes, and reaching full sexual maturity was something that only happened once in ones’ lifetime after all. “You might say that it’s more of an auspicious month.” 

Kenren’s eyebrows quirked up at that statement, and he could almost hear the gears turning in Tenpou’s head. He wondered if his Marshall had found any time to start researching dragon physiology, if indeed the kami library had such a work in its archives, or whether General Kenren had distracted him sufficiently from his purpose the previous evening. Judging from the disgruntled sulks he was sensing in Tenpou’s continued silence; he strongly suspected that it was the latter.

A rogue thought as to exactly how General Kenren might have distracted Marshall Tenpou sufficiently to keep him away from his books flittered through Goujun’s mind, leaving behind the same strange heaviness in his belly that he had experienced the previous evening. As he had then, he pushed it down and tried not to think about what it might mean – particularly in response to the actions of kami.

The drills went well, and Goujun counselled Kenren on the particulars that he should watch out for, somewhat different to the behaviours that the General typically kept an eye out for, but understandably so. Tenpou continued his brooding in silence, and Goujun was content to let him work his way out of his funk on his own. After all, it wasn’t like the Marshall was going to be handling the administrative side of things whilst Goujun was away; it was the General who had that dubious honour.

By the time that they had worked their way through his normal daily schedule, and he was confident that General Kenren was clear on the paperwork side of things, it was too late in the evening for Goujun to start in on the political side with Marshall Tenpou. Instead, he bade them both good evening, forbade them from lurking in his gardens, and headed for his own quarters. He was half-way there before he realised that he hadn’t actually disciplined his men for the invasion of his privacy, an oversight that he would have to correct in the morning.

**--**--**--**

Kenren was exhausted, there was far more to running Western Army than he’d previously realised, and so far they’d only gone over the administrative side of things. They still had to go over the bureaucratic politics and inter-army policies, which was to be Tenpou’s domain for the duration of Goujun’s absence, for which Kenren was supremely grateful. He much preferred the straight thrust of a good report as opposed to the parrying and flourishes of an imperial audience.

As he walked silently beside Tenpou’s preoccupied form, on their way back to their quarters from Goujun’s office, Kenren wondered how much damage their respective reputations would suffer from this little exercise. Not that he could blame their Commander, not after having seen his back the previous evening, but he wished that there was another way that things could be accomplished, without them having to expose themselves quite so thoroughly.

“Don’t stay up too late Tenpou.” He cautioned as he closed the door, slumped face first into the Marshall’s bed, uniform and all, and nodded straight off to sleep. 

Waking at the first crack of false dawn, Kenren stretched out, enjoying the slow extension of well-rested muscles, and realised that he was all alone in Tenpou’s big bed, which meant that his idiot Marshall had most likely stayed up all night hunting for that elusive morsel of information that would unlock the secret of what their Commander was going through.

Shaking his head in resignation, he showered and dressed in a clean uniform before venturing out to hunt down his missing Marshall. 

Thankfully, he found Tenpou fast asleep on the couch in the main room, still wearing his glasses and with his book still open on his chest. Smiling softly at the sight, and mentally chiding himself for his own mushiness, Kenren rescued the book, marked the page and set it aside. Then he slid Tenpou’s glasses off his face and gently shook the other mans’ shoulder to waken him. 

“Ng...” A sleepy grunt met his efforts as Tenpou’s eyes slowly peeled open, and then blinked near-sightedly up at him. He loved this first moment of wakefulness, before Tenpou’s natural defences went up and shielded his true emotions from everyone around him. In those depthless eyes he could see all of the tender love for him that the Marshall normally hid behind friendly affection. 

“Good morning.” He chirped cheerfully, just to hear Tenpou groan as he slowly sat up and fumbled for his glasses.

“Did you find out anything interesting last night?” Tenpou blinked at him slowly with unfocused eyes as Kenren held out the visual aids.

“Mmhmm.” An excited light was starting to bloom in the Marshall’s eyes as he slid his glasses on.

“At first I thought that perhaps the Commander was moulting, but I couldn’t find anything relating to such a practice in any of my books,” Tenpou paused to light up his first cigarette of the day, and sighed happily as he breathed out, “but I did run across a rather odd note in an otherwise rather boring treatise on the subjugation of the Dragon Kings that mentioned ‘the immense Dragon High King descended from the sky, his enormous wings shading whole platoons’.” 

Kenren’s eyebrows shot up as he lit his own first smoke of the day. 

“You think that Goujun is in the process of sprouting wings?” It sounded ludicrous to his own ears, but then again, the ways of the kami were not the ways of the dragons, and there had been those huge, painful-looking swellings running down their Commander’s back. 

Tenpou merely nodded wordlessly at him, and they sat together in silence, breathing the smoke in and out as they contemplated the absurd sounding idea. 

Eventually, Kenren stood and stubbed his spent cigarette into Tenpou’s frog ashtray, glancing at his Marshall out of the corner of his eye.

“Do you think this means that our Illustrious Leader isn’t actually an adult yet?” Tenpou’s eyes widened at his query and Kenren grinned back at him, trying to imagine their Commander as a moody kami-style teenager.

“Or it could mean that Goujun is entering middle age.” They looked at each other from a brief moment, thinking again of their Commander, and then Tenpou shook his head to negate his own statement. Kenren had to agree, Goujun might be calm and staid, but he didn’t have that unflappableness that came from having already lived the best years of his life. Then a wicked thought occurred to him

“I wonder if this means that he’s still a virgin.” Tenpou stared at him, his face frozen into an expression somewhere between stunned shock and intense curiosity, and Kenren had to laugh out loud.

“Come on; if we don’t get a wriggle on, the Commander will roast us alive and we’ll never get the chance to find out.” 

**--**--**--**

Tenpou wished that Kenren had not brought up the state of their Commander’s virginity, or possible lack thereof. It kept playing on his mind all through morning drill, then on through breakfast, and continued to plague him even as Goujun, still looking distinctly uncomfortable, began a series of probing questions as to purpose of their presence in his garden the evening before last - which only served to remind Tenpou of what the Dragon King had looked like stark naked. 

Tall and regal, with his pearly scales glistening damply from his bath, and his long hair pinned casually on top of his head, the muted lighting of his bathroom softening his angular features and shading his striking scarlet eyes. Goujun, Dragon King of the Western Seas and Commander of Heaven’s Western Army, was unique in all of Heaven and all the more stunning for it. 

Oblivious to both the Dragon King’s pointed demands and the skilful way that the General dodged them, Tenpou’s mind remained filled with images of what their Commander might look like in his natural dragon form, interspersed with titillating images of Goujun in his kami-style form writhing naked in Tenpou’s own bed, perhaps even entwined with an equally naked Kenren, with himself watching them avidly for long minutes before finally joining in. 

His heart skipped a giddy beat, his breath sat heavy in his chest, and his palms started to sweat as his extremely impure thoughts began to affect his body. He tried to calm his mind and to control his reactions, to return to the mild mannered and slightly absent minded persona he usually affected, but it was too late, piercing red and gold eyes were already locked onto his own, and delicate nostrils were flaring slightly as they scented the air.

“What is the meaning of this Marshall?” Was it his imagination, or was Goujun’s voice a little deeper and rougher than normal? And was it anger or lust distorting his features like that, making him seem more feral than usual? Beside him, he could hear the sharp intake of Kenren’s breath, and felt his head start to spin dizzyingly as adrenaline raced through his system. He continued his struggle to regain control of himself.

“Your pardon Commander Goujun,” he attempted, aiming for contriteness, but even to his own ears his voice sounded husky with desire, “I regret that I’m feeling a little out of sorts this morning,” Kenren snorted impudently beside him, “please forgive my impertinence.” He bowed respectfully, keeping his eyes lowered, but for once the standard request for forgiveness did not seem to be working. Goujun still looked decidedly annoyed, and it probably wasn’t helped in the slightest by the fact that Kenren was still smirking at him like a cat that had got the cream.

“I told you that you should’ve gone straight to bed last night and not stayed up researching.” Goujun’s eyes narrowed at Kenren’s blithe comment, and Tenpou had to clamp down hard on the sudden urge to kick the General for starting this here and now, whilst he was still so mentally off balance.

“Researching,” exasperation was clear in their Commander’s voice as the word slowly dribbled passed his lips, “and just what was so fascinating that it consumed your thoughts and made you disregard your responsibilities so thoroughly?” 

Tenpou’s back straightened indignantly, he had not disregarded his responsibilities, he had conscientiously sought to find out what was bothering the Commander of the Western Armies in order to provide any assistance necessary, he had gone above and beyond the call of duty in his actions. A little preoccupation was a small price to pay for such dedication to duty.

“Well Marshall?” Having the completely undivided attention of an annoyed Dragon King was certainly a unique experience. Tenpou pushed his glasses up his nose so that they would catch the light to conceal his eyes and guard his intentions.

“Are you growing wings Sir?” The breath whooshed out of Goujun’s mouth as Tenpou shot straight for the heart. There was a time and a place for the delicate dance of discreet enquiries, and the circumspect exchange of information, but sometimes a direct question was far more appropriate for the situation, especially when one’s opponent was not expecting it.

When their Commander did not immediately refute the assertion, Tenpou knew that he had been correct in his assumptions. Well correct in his first assumption anyway, and he wasn’t sure that he quite had the audacity to enquire as to his second – but perhaps General Kenren could be presumed upon to launch a flanking attack.

**--**--**--**

Goujun fumed. He couldn’t believe the temerity of his subordinates, asking him such invasive personal questions. It was one thing to know that his Marshall had a near terminal case of curiosity, but quite another to hear that same man make such intimate enquiries. And General Kenren! He was going to blister his brothers’ ears for saddling him with the insufferable man.

To top it all off, his outrage was aggravating his back, which was tingling painfully with every pound of his heart. Clenching his fists, he turned his back to his officers, and strode to the window, struggling to calm down and regain control of himself. He had just taken the last of several deep breaths when, incredibly, he felt the touch of soft kami hands on the backs of his shoulders – one on each side, and both far from the large areas of inflamed scales on either side of his spine.

He bared his teeth, whirled around, and growled wordlessly, as his gaze flickered between the two men facing him, peculiarly impressed when neither his Marshall nor his General did anything more than remove their unwelcome touches and step aside just enough to give him a viable escape route. Barging between them, he commanded that they get back to work, and stalked out of his own office.

It took some hours’ worth of meditation before Goujun felt composed enough to face his unruly subordinate officers again. He strode back through the door, without announcing his presence, and was more than a little surprised to see General Kenren hard at work behind his desk. Somehow, despite knowing how conscientious the man could be when there was no authority figure around to provoke, he had just presumed that he would find his paperwork being neglected in favour of some other, more enjoyable, pursuit. 

His Marshall was not immediately in evidence, and he frowned at Kenren until his General pointed to an area behind the desk which was currently out of his direct line of sight. When he strode forwards and looked, he could see Tenpou sitting on the floor with his back to the door and a large pile of communiqués, and a rather smaller pile of gilt-edged invitations, in his lap.

Neither man saluted or apologised, which set Goujun’s teeth on edge, but then again, both men refrained from indicating that anything untoward had gone down earlier in the day. It was as if he had just stepped out for a few minutes to use the facility and come right back. Something tight in his chest loosened as he pulled a hard wooden chair up to the short end of his desk, drew out the file of administrative minutiae from his Queen in the Western Oceans, and set to work in the almost-companionable silence.

For a longest time, the only sounds in the room were the scratch of pen on paper, the soft thump as a seal was applied to a document, and the rifling of pages as Tenpou studied the political notes that Goujun had drafted up the previous evening when he had been unable to sleep. It was a calming, familiar atmosphere and Goujun could almost forgive the gross impropriety that had occurred that morning – almost, but not quite. 

Tucking the last of his correspondence into a messenger’s satchel, to be added to his luggage for his imminent return to his own palace, Goujun stretched his tired muscles, doing his best to ignore the sting as his sore scales were irritated once again. 

Rising to his feet, he bid his subordinate officers a good evening, advised them that he would be in his quarters the following day preparing for his journey and that they should send a messenger if they needed him, and if not, then he would see them in two months’ time. To his astonishment, General Kenren rose to his feet, saluted him smartly and wished him a safe journey, promising to send a report at the end of every week. Touched without really knowing why, Goujun saluted back and offered a small smile.

As he strolled along the corridors towards his own quarters, quarters that he was looking forward to leaving behind him for the duration of his metamorphosis, Goujun found himself feeling lighter of heart than he would have thought possible after the mornings’ debacle. He chalked it up to a rising eagerness at seeing his home once again. It had been far too long since his presence had graced its halls, and he even found himself looking forward to seeing his wife – not normally a high point on his agenda. 

**--**--**--**

Kenren strode down the corridor towards the Commanders office, his black leather great-coat flaring dramatically behind him in its unfastened state. The sun was only the barest teasing glimmer of light on the horizon, but the pile of paperwork on Goujun’s desk was never-ending, and he wasn’t going to pass up this opportunity to put a bit of a dent in it. It was that or nurse Tenpou in his terribly hung-over state, and quite frankly, even the worst administrative time-waster was preferable to the sound, and smell, of another man vomiting relentlessly. 

The past few weeks had passed with relative ease, even with the exponential increase in stress. There were a few decisions he had made that he was sure Goujun was going to have words with him about when he returned, but he was feeling quietly confident that he hadn’t made a major mess of anything. He was even considering suggesting to the Commander, when he returned, that there were several tasks that Kenren could continue to carry out that would help free up the Dragon King’s time – time that Kenren was hoping that he could fill up with pursuits of a more recreational nature.

His body twitched interestedly as his mind detailed several possible scenarios, and he absently readjusted himself as his pants tightened. He could easily imagine himself kneeling on the floor beneath this very desk distracting Goujun from his work, or sitting right here in this chair watching as Tenpou rode the Dragon King hard and fast on the floor. The image was so vivid that Kenren was sure that he could almost smell the muskiness of sexual excitement and hear the slap of skin on scale. 

Pushing his chair back, Kenren popped the button on his uniform trousers, and unzipped his fly as he rose to his feet. Heading into the Commander’s private bathroom, he palmed his throbbing erection with one hand and leant his other against the tiled wall. He jerked himself off hard and fast, imagining that it was someone else’s hand, and came quickly with a low groan of pleasure. Tucking himself away and washing his hands, he wondered idly if his lover was going to put in an appearance, or if he was going to stay tucked up in bed all day.

Much to Kenren’s surprise, Tenpou showed up just after the lunch claxon sounded, bearing a covered tray of sustenance for Kenren’s consumption, and a large bottle of water for himself. The man still looked distinctly unwell, but he picked up the lap desk he had taken to using and settled on the floor out of Kenren’s way. There was a cigarette in his mouth, but it wasn’t lit, and he didn’t pick up any of his papers to start work. Instead he just sat there with his eyes closed and his head resting against the wall whilst Kenren ate hungrily. 

He would have given a lot to have attended last nights’ little soiree, but _he_ had not been invited. Still, the sight of Tenpou dressed up like a smaller, darker version of Goujun had been very entertaining. The Marshall had even attempted to bind his hair into a braid in an effort to reinforce the likeness, a sight that had had Kenren doubled over with laughter. As he had sat on the bed muffling his mirth and watching the final primping and preening, he had been blindsided by a sudden desire to share the moment with their Commander. He had been sure that Goujun would have found it just as amusing as he had.

Smiling at the memory, Kenren turned back to his requisition forms and continued crunching the numbers. He worked steadily through the early afternoon hours, to the quiet accompaniment of Tenpou’s snores, until the setting sun finally cast ruddy shadows about the room. Pleased with the amount of work he’d managed to accomplish, Kenren sat up straight and stretched luxuriously. Rising to his feet, he moved over to where Tenpou was slumped against the wall and carefully removed the unused lap desk. 

“It’s time to wake up sleepyhead, nap time is over.” Leaning in, Kenren brushed his lips gently against his lovers’ several times, but pulled back before the rousing Tenpou could reciprocate. 

The Marshall looked much better than he had earlier and Kenren was hopeful that he’d feel up to telling the tale of how he’d ended up in such a messy state when he was supposed to be furthering the cause of the Western Army. 

“Come on, why don’t we go back to my place and I’ll cook us something for dinner?” Rising easily to his feet, he held out his hand and hauled his lover up, slinging an arm companionably around his shoulders as he gained his feet. 

**--**--**--**

Tenpou idly watched Kenren move easily about the tiny kitchenette preparing a simple dinner for the two of them as he mulled over who would have benefited the most from his discomfiture at the previous evening’s cocktail party. 

He hadn’t noticed who it was that had spiked his drink, which ruled out quite a large number of bureaucratic toadies, and the fact that the substance used had been both odourless and tasteless meant that his opponent was both rich and subtle. The remaining pool of people was still larger than he would have liked, but at least it was manageable. 

He was formulating a plan to catch out his unknown adversary when a bowl of food was slowly waved in front of his face, trailing steam and the scent of something delicious. Blinking rapidly, he looked up into his lovers’ placid face and accepted the offering. 

“Thank you Kenren, it smells wonderful.”

Digging in with gusto, he was surprised to find, as he was every time, that Kenren was a surprisingly good cook. Before he knew it, his bowl was empty, his belly was full and he was witnessing a small orgy of domesticity as Kenren cleaned up all evidence of their meal together. 

“Why don’t you go and take a shower while I finish up here?” Kenren suggested when Tenpou took out a cigarette. “And don’t forget to scrub behind your ears.” 

He was still holding the unused soap and enjoying the feeling of hot water sheeting over him when his General opened the door and slipped into the steamy room, the kitchen apparently sterilised to his satisfaction. He quickly lathered up as he watched Kenren slowly strip off and drop his dirty clothes into the basket by the door.

“Don’t drop the soap.” Kenren said with a broad grin on his face he stepped into the shower cubicle and crowded close.

Catching and holding his lovers’ eyes, Tenpou held up his hand and then deliberately relaxed his fingers. The soap fell to their feet with a wet thud.

“Oops.” 

Much later, lying replete and drowsy in Kenren’s bed, wrapped tightly in Kenren’s arms, Tenpou wished that was sleeping as soundly as Kenren was. Instead, his mind was churning incessantly over his mental list of all of the possible antagonists behind his drink spiking, the probable political purposes behind their attack, and what he could do to flush them out into the open. 

Of course, there was also the slight chance that the attack hadn’t even been aimed at him, but that he had merely blundered carelessly into a trap carefully laid for someone else – someone who had perhaps planned on Goujun’s predictable presence. 

Beside him, Kenren mumbled something unintelligible in response to whatever it was that he was dreaming about and briefly tightened his embrace. Turning his head to run his eyes over the familiar sleeping face for any signs of distress, Tenpou was suddenly struck by the thought that the whole fiasco might not even be politically motivated, that it could in fact be something as simple as a jilted lover out for revenge. 

He was reasonably sure that there were no such skeletons in his own closet, or Goujun’s for that matter, but given his reputation and the cause of his transfer to the Western Army, Kenren’s must be positively bursting at the hinges with them.

He rolled over again restlessly as his mind churned through the myriad ways that he could possibly enquire discretely as to exactly who might be lurking in Kenren’s past so that he might either include or discard them from his private investigation.

**--**--**--**

Goujun dug his neatly manicured claws into the rocky promontory and spread his glorious new wings to their full span, beating them slowly and raising a fine mist from the Western Ocean seawater that swirled restlessly beneath him. The dawn air was cool and crisp and his excitement level was high.

His entire court had turned out to watch this, his first flight, and the cliff face behind him glittered brightly with the reflection of the rising sun on scales of ever colour.

If he hadn’t already been used to having courtiers and bureaucrats scrutinise his every move, and read three layers of subterfuge into every word that he said, not to mention having the whole Western Army observe his sword drills with Tenpou or Kenren, which he frequently lost, he might have been overwhelmed by the intense interest generated by his flight practice. 

Instead, he thrust the murmured conversations and the sound of scales sliding against each other from his mind, and concentrated on what the elderly flight instructor was telling him. After all, he only had two weeks in which to become proficient enough at flying to properly fulfil his marital duties before he would have to return to Heaven, where he doubted that he would get much time or opportunity to practice. 

“During your first flight, Your Majesty needs to focus firmly on the air currents. As Your Majesty can clearly feel, right now the wind is blowing gently from behind us, so if you angle your wings as such, it will aid your ascent into the skies.” 

Watching avidly as the instructor finished both his lecture and subsequent demonstration; Goujun took a deep breath, crouched down low on the rocky promontory with his pinions up, and then leapt for the skies with a decisive downward drive of his new wings.

It all worked beautifully for several strokes, until Goujun’s concentration was overwhelmed by the sheer magnificence of flight. Then it all went spectacularly wrong and he crashed into the solid-seeming surface of the ocean with an impact that drove all the breath from his lungs.

“Ouch.” Was all he could find to say as he dragged himself back out of the swirling water and clawed his way back up to the rock that he had started on. 

There was a ripple of amusement from his audience at his mild complaint and a few light-hearted suggestions as to how he could dry off, but no critical analysis of his poorly executed first flight, for which Goujun was extremely grateful. He knew very well what he had done wrong and certainly didn’t need anyone else to point it out to him.

Hours later, bruised and battered from his many violent encounters with the merciless waves, Goujun finally circled in a reasonably steady holding pattern above his court. A massive cheer rose from their collective throats at his achievement, and he bobbed his head regally in response. 

As he spiralled carefully down towards the ground, hoping that he could pull off a dignified landing, he heard the distinctive booming sound of a large dragon in flight. Checking his downward motion, he craned his sinuous neck around and spied the unmistakeable bulk of his queen, rising to be silhouetted against the setting sun. 

**--**--**--**

Kenren grinned down at the hastily penned note in his hand. Goujun was now officially no longer a virgin.

Over the weeks since Goujun’s departure, he had been carefully cultivating a friendship, by correspondence, with the Dragon Kings’ major-domo. Nothing too deep and meaningful, they were mostly superficial enquiries as to the Commanders’ health and wellbeing, and checks that both his and Tenpou’s reports were arriving in a timely manner. Still, it meant that he occasionally received unprompted morsels of information like the one contained within the note. He had to find Tenpou.

His lover was not in Goujun’s office, his own office or his quarters. He was not in the mess hall, on the training fields or the parade ground. He was, in short, not within the Western Army’s compound at all. Grinding his teeth, Kenren strode out the gates and headed towards the Imperial compound. If he couldn’t find Tenpou there, then he would go back to the Commanders’ office and wait for the wandering man to return on his own, exciting news be damned.

He strode purposefully down the main corridor of the Imperial palace, past servants, functionaries and ceremonial guards, doing his best to look as if he had every right to be there. A few curious gazes were cast his way, but no one stopped him as he hunted fruitlessly for his missing Marshall.

Glancing idly out of a window as the hallway he was walking down t-intersected with another, Kenren ground to a sudden halt in shock. Through the spotless glass, he could clearly see Tenpou, in full dress uniform, strolling slowly through the immaculate Imperial gardens. His lover was not alone, and just the sight of the other man was enough to make Kenren grind his teeth together in suppressed anger.

Tenpou was in the company of the Marshall of the Eastern Army, Kenren’s former superior officer, and the man whom he had first cuckolded - consent notwithstanding - and then physically assaulted. He felt sick watching the two of them walk together with their dark heads tilted intimately towards each other. Who knew what they were discussing? Or whom?

Taking a firm grip on his resolve and reminding himself that the two Marshall’s could well be conferring on some kind of official business – although what that might be he couldn’t guess – Kenren turned smartly on his heel and headed towards the closest entrance to the gardens, knowing full well that his presence, in public, with the two Marshall’s would raise countless eyebrows and create endless fodder for the gossips who were no doubt already watching.

The carefully raked gravel crunched loudly beneath his boots as he headed towards the two men, and they both looked up at the same moment, two pairs of dark eyes watching his every move. Then the light flashed from Tenpou’s glasses as his lover tilted his head just so and Kenren knew that he had stumbled upon something that he hadn’t been meant to find out about. It made him all the more interested to know what it was that he had interrupted.

Stopping a body length away from the two men, Kenren gave a textbook perfect salute and then stood at ease without waiting for permission. His gut was churning uncomfortably with a mix of curiosity and anger, and he had a nearly overwhelming desire to kick something.

Not unsurprisingly, his presence caused the two Marshall’s to wrap up their little discussion with unsubtle haste, and before he knew it, he was marching – in step – with the two men towards the gates to the Imperial compound, and then onwards with Tenpou to the Western Army’s headquarters. 

It was hard to hold his tongue, but he had already given the gossips too much to talk about, if he topped it off with a public argument, it would do irreparable damage to his carefully crafted reputation. Besides, he and Tenpou were sharing the Commander’s office; it wouldn’t be hard to get the Marshall alone if he could only be patient. 

**--**--**--**

Tenpou marched absentmindedly beside his silent General as they headed back to Goujun’s office. He was very curious to know exactly what Kenren had been doing in the Imperial compound in the first place, but his presence had proved irrevocably that his late night epiphany had been correct. His drink had been spiked as an act of petty revenge against his lover.

He still wasn’t entirely sure what it was exactly that his Eastern counterpart had hoped to achieve, perhaps something as simple as an act of infidelity brought on by his lowered inhibitions, but his body language had been all too clear - the man had wanted Kenren dismissed from the armed forces, or perhaps incarcerated, not merely transferred to another division.

All in all, it had been well worth the effort of dressing up and ‘accidentally’ running into the Eastern Marshall in the halls of the Imperial palace. The conversation hadn’t exactly been riveting, but it had been very informative, and Tenpou felt much relieved at having solved the most vexing aspect of his current issue. A little more digging and he was confident that he’d know exactly how and why his counterpart had done what he had.

Closing the door to Goujun’s office behind him, Tenpou turned to face his lover intending to ask what had brought him to the Imperial compound, and grunted as his shoulder blades impacted sharply with the solid wooden door, Kenren’s weight keeping him pinned in place. The General did not look at all happy.

“Enjoy yourself today?” Kenren’s tone of voice was deceptively calm, given the force he was using to hold Tenpou in place.

“It was passable, how about yours?” The blithely polite answer was guaranteed to push Kenren’s buttons, and sure enough, the pressure on his chest increased as the General leant in until their noses were almost touching. As he struggled to draw a deep breath, Tenpou couldn’t help but notice that Kenren smelt wonderful; a delicious mix of musk and leather.

“Mine was going extremely well until I found my current Marshall seeing my former Marshall behind my back in front of everyone in the Imperial compound.” Tenpou barely restrained a smile at the way that Kenren summed up the situation that he had walked into. His lover could be surprisingly sensitive sometimes. He lifted his chin to chastely kiss the irritated man on the lips and slowly slid his arms around Kenren’s uniformed waist and pulled himself close, so close that he could feel the angry pounding of Kenren’s heart against his own.

“Kenren, you know that you’re the only General for me.” Tenpou licked his lips as he slid his left leg between Kenren’s, pushing forwards until his lovers’ breath hitched as his balls were pressed firmly against his body, a not-so-subtle reminder that whilst Kenren might have both height and weight on Tenpou, the Marshall was no weakling to be pushed around at someone else’s whim.

“You manipulative…” Kenren’s words trailed off as he harshly claimed Tenpou’s lips in a rough kiss, grinding his hips forwards forcefully enough to press Tenpou firmly back against Goujun’s office door. It was uncomfortable, but hot enough to have Tenpou hardening in his pants, and he’d just arched his back as much as possible to achieve friction in exactly the right spot, when Kenren suddenly pushed away from him and stalked back to the Commanders’ desk muttering to himself about not giving in to such blatant baiting.

“Here, read this.” Tenpou blinked as Kenren held out an unremarkable piece of paper. The General was flushed in the face and breathing hard, and Tenpou couldn’t see why they couldn’t continue what they’d started and then read the days’ correspondence. Pushing himself away from the door, Tenpou slowly made his way across the office and plucked the paper from Kenren’s outstretched fingers.

His posture straightened as he read through the brief missive and a grin slowly spread across his face. He glanced up at the matching grin on his lovers’ face and knew that they were on the same page. Goujun had performed his marital duties and was preparing to return to Heaven. In other words, their Commander had experienced sex for the first time and was now going to be all alone, and probably ripe for the picking.

**--**--**--**

Goujun inspected himself carefully in the floor length mirror. His wings were tucked tightly against his back and coupled with both a loose uniform coat and a cape they were hardly noticeable. It was likely that his secretary and immediate subordinates would be able to tell, and probably one or two others, but the majority of the Jade Emperor’s court would discern no difference in his appearance. Nodding to his reflection, he turned and headed out into the dawn light, fully prepared to enter Heaven’s Gate and return to his normal life.

When he stepped out of the Gate and onto the familiar parade ground, he was astonished to his see his troops arrayed at ease before him with Marshall Tenpou and General Kenren at their head. At his arrival, there was a shout of ‘ATTENTION!’ and they all immediately came to attention with a great stamping of feet and a jingling of uniforms and saluted as one. Goujun was rather touched, normally his comings and goings to his homeland were unremarked upon and he wondered at times if anyone even noticed, although admittedly this visit had been much longer than most.

He saluted in reply and marched forward to talk with his subordinate officers as the army once again settled at ease. He was glad that his royal bodyguards had stayed on the other side of the gate, as he rather doubted that they would have considered a massed army of kami to be a good thing, regardless of whether or not they were Goujun’s own.

“Welcome back Commander.” Kenren said with a straight face as Goujun came to a halt in front of him. “We’ve prepared a little something for you as a celebration of your return.” And with that, Kenren turned on his heel and marched forwards several paces before starting to shout out commands.

Goujun stood with Tenpou and watched the rather impressive marching display. Normally he wasn’t big on such displays, preferring competence in the field over looking pretty on the parade ground, but he had to admit that it stirred his pride to see his men performing so well as a cohesive unit.

The sun was nearly at its peak when the displays were completed and the men marched off by their lieutenants leaving Goujun and Tenpou standing together and facing Kenren. The General was grinning, proud of himself and of his men and what they’d achieved. Goujun felt a heavy heat settle in his belly at the sight, a heat that he now knew was lustful attraction, and he unconsciously smiled back. Seeing it gave Kenren’s grin a distinctly feral edge and Goujun felt the heat in his belly flare fiercely in response. 

The urge to reach out and force the normally aggravating General to submit to him was strong and he rustled his wings restlessly beneath his restraining uniform against the sudden sharp desire to take to the skies. The lack of reaction in Kenren to the sight and sound of his new appendages moving beneath his clothing told Goujun that they weren’t news to the General. That easy acceptance did nothing to alleviate the tension settling throughout Goujun’s body. He would never have guessed that biological maturity would affect his self-control as much as it proving to do so. 

“Shall we grab a bite to eat and then start going over the paperwork?” Tenpou asked suddenly into the loaded silence.

Goujun swung his head around to look at his Marshall. Light flashed off the man’s glasses to hide his eyes from view, but the sudden straightening of his posture told Goujun that Tenpou was not as unaffected as he was trying to pretend. It suddenly hit Goujun that the other two men were lovers, he’d known it of course but hadn’t ever really _thought_ about it, and that if one of them was obviously riling him up, then the other was either in on the plan or about to succumb to a jealous rage. 

Tenpou did not smell at all angry.

**--**--**--**

Kenren shot Tenpou a victorious grin as they marched in step behind Goujun towards the Commanders’ office. The Dragon King was looking a lot less uptight than he normally did, a fact that Kenren was chalking up to finally getting laid, and was actually responding positively to the blatant flirting that both he and Tenpou were indulging in. The sexual tension in the narrow corridor was so thick that it was nearly visible.

Of course all of the flirting in the world couldn’t convince Goujun to shirk on his duties, but Kenren took every opportunity to rub up against Tenpou whenever the Commander was looking. The Dragon King might not be able to blush, but Kenren could still tell that the mood was affecting him – it was in the way that Goujun kept fidgeting and flaring his nostrils, not to mention the way that he couldn’t seem to keep his new wings still. Kenren could barely wait to see what the new additions to his commanding officer looked like.

As he finished his briefing and they moved onto what Tenpou had accomplished, Kenren smirked lasciviously as he watched the Marshall move around to stand right beside the Commander, so close that their arms were brushing. Tenpou was very obviously aroused, and Goujun was just as obviously aware of that fact. The way that the two kept their conversation level and on topic was driving Kenren absolutely wild. He wanted to sweep the papers off the Commanders desk and throw himself down on it so that they would have to direct all of their attention to him.

Doing that however would only raise the Commanders’ ire. Instead, Kenren was reduced to pressing himself forwards against the desk, crudely pushing his crotch into prominence, it wasn’t a move that he would normally employ but desperate times called for desperate measures. 

He was gratified to see that both Goujun’s and Tenpou’s eyes kept flickering repeatedly to the rather noticeable bulge pressing against his fly. It somewhat soothed his ego, even if the other two men did not stop their tedious discussion on the changing politics of Heaven’s armies. 

Taking a risk, Kenren reached down to deliberately adjust himself and smirked as Goujun stumbled over what he was saying and Tenpou leaned forward absently and licked his lips.

Being even more blatant, Kenren slowly rubbed his hand over his bulge, arching his back slightly as though it was the best feeling in the world. The conversation between the other two men trailed off as they both paused to watch and Kenren upped the ante by easing the zip down on his pants and slowly drawing himself out. He moved his hand along his length in a smooth motion and sighed softly as pleasure flooded through him. 

A sibilant whisper caught his attention briefly and he watched the motion of Goujun’s lips as the Dragon King whispered something into Tenpou’s ear. The Marshall nodded once and then moved around the desk to claim Kenren’s lips in a searing kiss.

Kenren could feel Tenpou’s arousal pressing against his hip and reached down with his free hand to gently squeeze it. The Marshall groaned against his lips and pressed forwards into his touch. Feeling Goujun’s eyes on him, Kenren broke away from Tenpou’s intoxicating kiss and glanced across the desk. The Commander was leaning forwards in his chair, his eyes bright and his mouth ajar, very clearly on board with what was happening. Kenren was ecstatic; this whole encounter was going better than he had ever dared to hope.

**--**--**--**

Tenpou moaned loudly as Kenren’s hand slowly popped the button on his trousers and lowered his zip before reaching into his pants and firmly taking hold of his aching erection. Thrusting into the General’s willing hand, Tenpou grinned at the feral noise that Goujun let slip as Kenren finally turned so that he and Tenpou were face to face and pressed himself forwards.

Their cocks rubbed against each other as Kenren adjusted his grip to hold them both tightly in one fist and Tenpou couldn’t help looking down to see two shiny crowns poking out from above tightly curled fingers. The image never failed to stir his blood and his breath hitched in his lungs at the thought that their Commander was also seeing this delectable sight.

That reminded him of what Goujun had whispered to him before he had joined Kenren in his lewd display, and Tenpou reached up to quickly divest the General of as much clothing as he could conveniently reach, before stripping off as much of his own as possible without breaking Kenren’s easy rhythm. It left them both standing there shirtless, with their trousers pushed down around their upper thighs, as they thrust into Kenren’s tight fist.

He could feel Goujun’s eyes on him as he reached up to run his hands over Kenren’s bared chest, tweaking the General’s nipples briefly before sliding his hands down to caress the exposed upper curve of the other man’s ass. Kenren groaned at the sensation and tightened his grip on their erections, forcing a moan from Tenpou’s own throat. Across the desk, Goujun exhaled lustily and Tenpou briefly turned to face him before diving forwards to claim Kenren’s lips in a quick, messy, kiss.

Knowing that the Commander was watching their every moved avidly had Tenpou right on the edge with almost indecent haste. He could tell from the other man’s breathing that Kenren was similarly affected and he deliberately moaned loudly into near silence of the office, just to draw all attention to himself, before throwing his head back and letting his orgasm rocket through him, splattering his release up Kenren’s chest.

As he stood there and panted to try and catch his breath, Kenren’s fist tightened almost unbearably around him and then the General moaned lustily and Tenpou was hit with a familiar wet warmth. He reached up to smear the General’s release across his chest, the way that he knew the other man loved seeing, and grinned at the way that Kenren’s spent cock twitched against his own at the motion. 

“Shall we?” He murmured as he caught Kenren’s eye and nodded significantly across the desk towards their Commander before he bent down to remove his uniform boots so that he could shimmy out of his trousers. Then, stark naked, he walked around the desk and leant down to steal his first taste of Goujun’s lips, beating Kenren to it by mere seconds.

**--**--**--**

Goujun writhed in his chair as Tenpou and Kenren fought a sloppy battle over whose turn it was to kiss him. The taste of the two kami was amazing, nothing like what Goujun had expected, and the way that they each licked into his mouth and tangled their tongues with his own was incredibly erotic. Coupled with the show that they had just put on for him, it was more than enough to have his hemipenes swelling within his body. 

He allowed his hands free reign to roam as they would; relishing the feeling of smooth kami skin beneath his own softly scaled fingertips. A month ago he would never have believed that he would he would ever find himself in such a situation, let alone be enjoying himself so much. The only possible reason for this change in his behaviour was the hormones released by his metamorphosis. It was strange that no one had mentioned this to him during his sojourn at his palace. Then again, they probably hadn’t ever thought that he would consider kami as suitable bed partners. 

As Tenpou and Kenren slowly peeled back the layers of his clothing, kissing and caressing him as they went, Goujun revelled in the sense of personal freedom that came from the absence of restrictive clothing. Then, when his new wings were finally uncovered, he indulged himself and stretched them out to their full span. He could feel the walls of his office on both sides with his wingtips. It made him feel strong and powerful.

The way that his Marshall and his General exclaimed over his new wings, the way that they caressed the thin membranes, and the way that scent of their arousal suddenly peaked, boosted Goujun’s ego enormously. He felt wanted, desired, the way that he never had before. 

His Queen was a good political choice, much older than him but a very capable administrator for his kingdom. Theirs was not an intimate marriage and he knew that she had never found his juvenile form attractive. Even now that he was fully mature, he was still not enough for her, a fact that did not upset him in the slightest. If they had formed an attachment, it would have made their lives that much more difficult.

Tenpou and Kenren on the other hand were much better choices to form attachments with, their being kami notwithstanding. They were a part of Goujun’s everyday life, they respected him without fawning over him and they weren’t afraid to beat him in a fair fight. Not to mention the fact that they very clearly found him sexually desirable. 

There were soft hands investigating his genital slit and he looked down to see curiosity written all over Tenpou’s face. Goujun relaxed his muscles and allowed his swollen hemipenes to emerge. The anxiety he vaguely thought that he should have felt at exposing himself was subsumed beneath the pure pleasure of having someone else gently touching him so intimately. He gasped aloud as inquisitive fingers trailed all over him, investigating every bump and groove. 

The feeling was intense and very nearly overwhelming and Goujun had to grip the arms of his chair tightly to keep still. Then he looked down just in time to see Kenren lean in and lick him. It was too much suddenly, and his orgasm roared through him, burning him alive with its furious intensity and leaving him slumped bonelessly in his chair. 

Kenren and Tenpou were still staring at his groin curiously, and Goujun shifted uncomfortably as his hemipenes slowly withdrew back inside their internal pouch. The grin on the General’s face promised untold witticisms in the near future, when they were more comfortable with each other in such a setting, and the look on the Marshall’s face foretold endless hours of personal investigation on their physical differences.

Goujun couldn’t wait to get started.


End file.
